Formigas Islet

A protected marine reserve 60 km east of São Miguel, the Formigas Islet group is a cluster of volcanic rocks rising from a shallow bank that teems with Atlantic reef life rarely seen at this density anywhere in the archipelago. Giant moray eels and conger eels share crevices while enormous schools of salema, bream, and amberjack orbit the rocks in dense rotating columns. The reserve status means fish behaviour is unusually relaxed, giving macro and wide-angle photographers equal opportunity at a site often described as the most biodiverse reef in the Azores.